Aregbesola inaugurates emergency response service

He said the 19 ambulances would be positioned at strategic locations to attend to accident victims, adding that the government would buy more ambulances to cover all accident flash- points.

The governor lamented the rising carnage on roads, adding that accidents have claimed many “promising lives”.

He said his administration has identified accident-prone roads in the state, such as the Ife/Ibadan Express road, Gbongan/Osogbo road, Ikirun/Offa road and Iwo/Ibadan road, and is working on measures to mininise accidents.

Decrying the poor response to emergencies, Aregbesola said many accident/disaster victims could have been saved, if health workers had responded promptly.

He said: “The health sector has suffered neglect by past administrations. As a responsive and responsible government, whose priority is the wellbeing of the people, we cannot fold our arms and watch our people die unnecessarily in road accidents and other emergencies.

“Our panacea to redress this ugly trend is the establishment of the O-Ambulance and improved healthcare services, which our administration has been striving to provide since we assumed office.”

The ambulances are equipped with state-of-the-art communication gadgets.

The public would be given special numbers to access the services free-of-charge.

Commissioner for Health Mrs. Temitope Ilori said the administration has upgraded state hospitals in the nine federal constituencies.

She said the government would employ volunteer workers for the O-Ambulance scheme and urged interested persons to apply.